


No Place Like Home

by littlerumbird



Series: Rally Cap [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Rumbelle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:01:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23625796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlerumbird/pseuds/littlerumbird
Summary: This will be a series of one-shots jumping around the timeline, as a follow up to my fic Rally Cap.
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Series: Rally Cap [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1700656
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	No Place Like Home

**Author's Note:**

> A friend requested the first real date that Paton & Belle go on. This takes place about a week and a half after the end of my fic Rally Cap.

Paton Rumfield would be lying if he didn’t admit to himself that he had been a little nervous about tonight. He reminded himself more than once that the last time they were together just a week and a half ago in Chicago, Belle had kissed him. During the last days in between getting Bae settled back into something like a routine, calls with his lawyer about Milah’s case and his pending petition for full custody of his son, he had read up more on Belle’s role as Director of Community outreach for the Knights. It was impressive.

She seemed quieter tonight, although to be fair she was usually directing a gaggle of young children when he was around her. He assumed it meant she was nervous, too. 

As they took the last steps to the roof area of the restaurant, he hoped that it would help to be settled into their table. Their hostess was discreet in ushering them to a table for two. The rest of the roof area would remain solely theirs until they were finished tonight. Two glasses of ice water were waiting, along with the informal arrangement of pink tulips. He hoped she enjoyed the bistro.

Stepping forward, he pulled out the chair for Belle and gave her a moment to scoot forward a bit before he moved to his seat. “Would you like wine or something else to drink?”

She bit her bottom lip, clearly in thought for a long moment while she reached out and let her fingers brush over the petals of a nearby tulip. “I think I’ll stick with water for now.”

With that, the hostess left them to enjoy their seats and the view of the sun just starting to set over the skyline.

Paton took his napkin and settled it in his lap before scooting a little closer to the table. Deftly he unbutton his shirt sleeves and began rolling each shirt to mid-arm length. It wasn’t particularly warm, Belle herself had brought a light jacket, but he was suddenly conscious of the formality of the moment. The ‘official-ness’ of this first true date. “Will it bother you if I drink?”

Her head shook slightly. “No, it’s not that. I don’t have a problem with people drinking, I simply never cared to do much of it myself. Sometimes on holidays… But, ah, it doesn’t mix with my pain medication if I need to take it later.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking when I chose upstairs.” He grimaced, and wondered if there was, perhaps, a lift somewhere that they could take to go back down. He didn’t think so.

“It’s okay,” she reassured him with a soft smile. “Today has been a good day for my knee, overall. I was in my office most of the day with Paige working on plans for helping with the Special Olympics in a few weeks. So I was sitting a lot today.” She was still fiddling with the flowers, seemingly fascinated with the petals and texture.

Paton took a slow sip of his water and let himself settle a bit more into his chair. “Do you mind me asking what’s caused your knee to bother you so much?”

A rueful smile crossed her lips. “I was a catcher for most of my years playing softball. It’s murder on knees. It’s… not a pretty story to tell.”

“Still…” he trailed off, curious to see if she was going to share or if he hadn’t earned that right, yet.

“I’ve had so many injuries, including one that was caught on tape that I will never be able to bring myself to watch. I don’t remember much about that one except a collision and god-awful sounds and the worst pain I’ve ever been in. At some point I woke up in recovery after a surgery with a nasal cannula and days of foggy pain. That was my sophomore year of high school, well the spring part in play offs for state. It’s never been the same since… a few more injuries in college, enough that I didn’t get to try out for the Olympics. It’s gotten worse this spring, though. One wrong move during a workout… My orthopedic specialist has been after me for months to consider a new technique, but it means surgery, so I wanted to ride out the season with Step Up to the Plate.”

The silence that stretched out was surprising. Deep blue eyes lifted from the flowers to meet Paton’s. She looked a little surprised. “This… probably wasn’t the type of conversation you were expecting.” It sounded like an apology.

His mouth quirked into a half smile. “I think it’s safe to say that you have not been at all what I was expecting from the first day I met you. I have yet to be disappointed about that.”

“Maybe a little disappointed when Bae had a black eye.”

“For half a moment,” he conceded. “But then disappointed later that I couldn’t stay angry with you because you handled an angry parent so well. I had in mind to call up your supervisor and give them a piece of my mind.” It made her blush, something that had happened several times already tonight. Paton found it rather endearing.

She smiled a little at that. “Until you realized I was the supervisor.”

“Something like that.” Before he could comment further, their waiter was emerging with a small salad and crab cakes for both of them.

They tucked into their food, which seemed to make both of them feel a little better. Belle finally took a sip of her water and continued. “Anyway, Graham and my father have both been dropping subtle and not-so-subtle hints that they want me to go through the surgery.”

“What do you think about that?” It was clear from her long pause before answering that it had been a while since someone had asked her about her thoughts. He made a mental note to do that more often.

She mulled over the question, chewing thoughtfully but the quiet was more relaxed now. Nearly halfway through, she took a long drink of her water before answering. “It’s hard… knowing how long recovery might take. The physical therapy I’ll have to deal with… But it’s not getting better, either. It’s more or less a knee replacement. And since I’m younger, it could mean another knee replacement eventually.”

Paton didn’t often feel out of his depth, but he was in this realm. He’d enjoyed pickup games of football, or rather soccer, and rugby as a boy. Sometimes even a game of cricket. Although he’d been better at football. But he’d never played at the level she had. 

“Okay, your turn,” her sudden comment brought him from his reverie. “What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?” Belle took a bite of her salad and watched him expectantly.

He dabbed his mouth before answering. “Cracked ribs and, bruises, and a broken wrist in something like year nine of school.” Her surprised was evident as he shifted in his seat. “It was a rough neighborhood. My mum was scraping by, and I think your term ‘jumped’ best describes it. That, more than anything, showed me how important it was to get out. To go the places my mum hoped I would. She cleaned homes and took in all sorts of mending and other work to keep us going.” He knew that Belle was sharp enough to notice he hadn’t mentioned his father, but he was glad they weren’t tackling that subject just now.

“It must’ve been hard.”

He nodded, “It took me a while to appreciate all of that. And I wasn’t the nicest person back then. Let’s say no one beat me up again after that.” Paton winced a little, knowing his choices when he was younger were certainly not ones he wanted Bae to repeat. 

The rest of the meal eased into more relaxed conversation as they enjoyed their coq a vin and the sunset. As much as he was coming to like her, and possibly more that he wasn’t quite ready to admit to himself, Paton was surprised to find they had a few more things in common including a love of brunch, crème brulee, and the stars.

As they sipped coffee and watched the sky darken a touch more, Belle gave a contented sigh. “I wish we could see the stars better in the city.”

He swallowed a bite of dessert and cleared his throat. “We could drive outside the city and watch them. I, ah, didn’t bring a blanket this time, but we could still enjoy it if you like.” Paton couldn’t help but squirm a little, hoping she didn’t misunderstand him or think he was trying to lure her to some tawdry make-out point. Not that he didn’t want to kiss her. Because that had been an extremely pleasant surprise…

“Paton?”

“Hhm?” He blinked and she came into focus, chuckling a little.

“I said that could be nice.” Belle took one last sip of the water and set her napkin beside her plate. “No rush,” she added.

He took the moment to take a final drink of his coffee and then stood. “Don’t forget your flowers.”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I thought those were…”

“For you,” Paton assured, lifting the small arrangement, clear vase and all. He offered his free hand to help her to her feet and stepped back to allow her a moment to collect her things. As the approached the door and the stairs down to the foyer, he offered his arm. “Next time I’ll be sure there’s a lift.”

Belle wrapped one hand around his upper arm and the other went to the handrail. “As long as we take our time, I’ll be fine,” she promised. Their descent was slower, but he let her set the pace, pausing when she did as though nothing was out of the ordinary about it. He wished he could make it magically better.

*** 

She was glad she had her jacket. The night air coming in through the moon roof was cool, but Belle was not willing to say anything. The stars were so bright out here in a vacant lot on a back road outside of town. It was a breath of fresh air in every way, and Belle relaxed further into the reclined passenger’s seat.

“There’s the Big Dipper,” Paton murmured, pointing lazily above him from his spot reclined beside her. “Next time I’ll think to bring some blankets and the telescope.”

“You have a telescope?” she asked in surprise, twisting slightly to regard him, although she could barely make out his profile.

“Mhmmm, I want to get a better one when Bae is older, but it serves its purpose for now.”

“I had one when I was younger. We didn’t bring it when we moved from the west coast, and I think by then I was so busy with softball that I kind of … lost track of the idea of getting a new one. Sometimes when I was having a bad day in college Graham would take me down a dirt road, and we would go watch the stars… I dunno… things… just make more sense out here like this. Our… smallness. How big earth is. That it keeps going on and on despite us…”

“Graham seems very protective of you.” The words were neutral, but Belle caught the curiosity behind them.

She smiled a little in the darkness. “He’s the big brother I never had. And he’s been in love with Ruby for years. She’s too wild to see what she’s looking for is right in front of her. And he’s too far gone to look for anyone else.” It was a little amusing that Paton would wonder about her and Graham. “He’s also the best trainer we’ve ever had. And he’s one of the few people I’m willing to let near my knee when it’s bad.”

Somewhere in the distance the tree frogs were singing their night song. And occasionally Belle caught sight of a distant lightening bug. Her eyes scanned the sky again. “There’s Andromeda… it was one of my favorite stories as a girl.”

“The sacrifice given to the gods, rescued and made queen,” he mused quietly. 

“I’ve always loved a good princess and dragon story.”

“Beauty and the beast,” Paton teased lightly.

“Yes,” she admitted. “I loved archetypes and theme. I almost majored in English or in Library Science.” She bit back a sigh. “Sometimes I think about going back and getting a second degree.”

“What stopped you?”

Belle went silent for several long moments. She’d never really fleshed it out. “There aren’t many jobs in libraries… and I have a lot of privilege because of my father and his money. It seemed… a little selfish to take a job I didn’t really need. If I could’ve landed one.”

“Any library would be proud to have you.”

“Business Management with a minor in non-profit seemed like something I could do to return a lot of … good back to the community. And once I found my niche, I do enjoy it.”

“There’s always time,” he added quietly. “If you really wanted to go back, the door is always open.”

She gave a murmur of agreement before feeling around a bit on the console. It was so dark out here, and she almost considered turning on her phone’s screen for some extra light, but she didn’t want to break the darkness. There was something intimate and more private about it. Her fingers finally found his, and she gave a soft squeeze. “Thank you. Tonight was wonderful.”

He gently brought her fingers to his lips, and she shivered feeling his warm breath against them before his lips brushed them lightly. “You’re welcome… and you’re cold. Shall we head back?”

“Can we stay just a bit longer?” she asked.

He reached over and turned on the car but left it in park and adjusted the settings so that warm air began blowing from the vents. “Of course.”


End file.
